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BXCAVATING AND DREDGING MACHINE.

No. 258,951 v Patented June 6, 1882.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet, 2.

G. SOUTHER.

BXGAVATING AND DREDGING MACHINE. I No, 258,951. Patented J1me 6,1882. I

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFF CE.

EXCAYATIING AND DREDGING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming art of Letters Patent No. 258,951, dated d'une 6, 1882.

- Application filed February 13, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be itknown that I, GEORGE SOUTHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and-State of'Ma's- 'sachusetts','have invented certainnew and useful'lmprovements in Excavating and Dredging Machines; and I do hereby declare that the same are fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 1 I

This invention relates to'im'provements in excavating and dredging machines; and it is carried out as follows, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, onw'hich- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 represents a plan iew of the same. Fig. 3 represents a detailed sectional view of the frictionclutch for the hoisting apparatus. Fig. 4 represents a sectional view of the friction-clutch mechanism for swinging the crane. Fig. 5 represents a detail side elevation of the foot-treadle and levers for operat ing the friction-clutch of the hoisting apparatus, and Fig. 6 represents a detail View of the forked connecting link for the same. Fig. 7 represents a detail view of one of the forked levers for operating the friction-clutches for swinging the crane. Fig. 8 represents an enlarged section on the line A A, shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 9 represents an enlarged section on the line B B, also shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 10 shows a section on the line 0 0, shown in Fig. 9; and Fig. ll-shows a section on the line 'E E, also shown in Fig. 9,as will hereinafterbe more fully shown and described.

In the drawings, a a. represent the lower frame-work of the machine.

bis the steam-boiler. c is the steam-engine, with its crank c, driving-shaft c, and balancewheel 0', as usual. 1 l

d is the crane, with its scoop d and hoisting-chain d", as usual. The crane d is made 'to swing around the upper and lower ends of the post e c, the latter being made of two hollow cast-iron parts-via, a lower part, 6, se-

so as to enable it to pass through tunnels or under bridges without coming in contact with the roofs of such. In such transportation of the machine the 'cranedand chimney bof the boiler b are also detached from the machine. f fis the chain-wheel on the upper end of the post 6, to which the chain f leads from the spiral chain-drum F for swinging the crane around its axis when the scoop is to he emptied, as usual. The hoisting mechanism is carried out as follows: On the driving-shaft c is secured the pinion g, which engages into the teeth of the spur-gear h, running looselyon the shaft h, located in bearings 70." h on the frame a a, as shown in Fig. 1.. To one side of the spur-gear h is bolted or otherwise secured an annular flange or rim, h, as Shown in Figs.

1 and 3.

D is the spiral chain-drum, which is secured to the shaft h, and the hoisting-chain d is attached to one end of said drum D. Through longitudinal perforations in the drum D pass loosely apair of-1on gitudinall y-ad justable rods, 41 '5, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,) theends of which nearest to the spurgear h are secured to a flanged ring, '5, loose on the shaft h. To the said ring 11 are hinged, at t i, the links 1''" i, the outerends of which are hinged at i i to the friction'plates or shoes k, as shown in Fig. 3. y y i l l are guides or fulcra for the outer ends of the links 0"" '5', which guides or fulcra' form a part of the hub L, secured onthe shaft h, as shown in Fig. 3. I

It will thus be seen that by forcing therods i t in the direction toward the spur-gear-h the friction plates or shoes is is are broughttobear the spur-wheel'h, and the two will continue to move together until the rods M are movedin an opposite direction-that is, away from the spur-wheel h. The longitudinal adjustmentof central shaft, m, which is longitudinally adjustable in the central bored-out part of the shaft h. The outer end of the central shaft, m, is secured to the flanged hub or collar in, which is supported and has its bearing in the cross-bar or ring m the latter having its ends m m hinged to the forked link a, as shown in Fig. 6, the latter being made in two halves, secured together by means of the fastening-bolt n, to enable it readily to be attached and detached to and from the cross-bar or ring m in making or repairing the device. The rear end of the forked link it is hinged at n to the lever 0 on the vertical rock shaft 0, (shown in Fig. 5,) which shaft is supported in bearings 0 0", secured to the frame a. To the shaft 0 is further secured the lever 0, which is hinged to the link 1), the opposite end of said link being hinged to the lever 1), secured to the rock-shaft 1)", located in hearings on the frame a. To the rock shaft 12 is secured the treadle-lever 11', provided with a suitable treadle,p as shown in Fig. 5, and thus by downward pressure on the treadle 1), and by the connecting mechanism, as above set forth, from it to the flanged ring i, the latter is forced toward the spur-wheel h and causes the shoes is k to be forced against the inside of the annular rim h, for the purpose set forth. The shoes k k are automatically detached from co ntact with the rim h as soon as the operator removes his foot from the treadle p by the weight g, hung on the outerend of the lever g, secured to the rocking shaft 11', as shown in Fig. 1.

The clutch mechanism for operating the spiral-chain drum F so as to swing the crane to the right and left, as well as to move the whole apparatus forward or back, is carried out as follows The bevel-gear pinion r, on the driving-shaft o, gearsinto the teeth of a similar bevel-gear pinion, s, on the shaft t, the latter being supported in bearings t t, secured to the frame a.

U and V are a pair of bevel-gear pinions, running loosely on the shaft t, and geared into the teeth of the bevel-gear W, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. a: w are collars on the shaft t, located close up to the ends of each of thebevelgear pinions U and V, as shown in Fig. 4, to prevent the said pinions from moving longitudinally on the shaft t.

U is an annular tapering flange or rim on the gear U, and V is a similar annular tapering flange or rim on the gear V, as shown in Fig. 4.

U and V are frictional linings, respectively, attached to theinner surfaces of the rims U and V, which linings may preferably be made of leather.

Upon the shaft t are located apair of tapering friction clutch-wheels, u and o, the former being located in proximity to the rim U and the latter in proximity -to the rim V, which friction clutch-wheels are longitudinally adjustable on the shaft t and made to rotate with the latter, the hubs of such clutch-wheels being provided with keys fitting into correspondiug key-beds on the shaft t, as is usual in such cases. It will thus be seen that by forcing the clutch uagainst the rim U and its packing U a rotary motion is imparted to the bevel-pinion U at the same time as the clutch o is disengaged from the rim V and its packing V, allowing the bevel-pinion .V to run loose on the shaft t, thus imparting a rotary motion in one direction to the bevelgear \V, and by sliding the clutches u v in the opposite direction a rotary motion isimparted to the pinion V, by which an opposite rotary motion is conveyed to the bevel-gear W, the pinion U during this time running loose on the shaft t. A simultaneous longitudinal motion is imparted to the clutches u and a by means of the hand-lever 1, secured to the rockshaft 2, located in bearings 3 3 on the frame a, the said shaft 2 having secured to it alever, 4, projecting into a corresponding perforation in the rear end of the longitudinally-adjustable shaft 5, to which are secured the forked arms a o, to the ends of which are jointed, respectively, the rings u" o, resting loosely in the annular grooves u 02' on the hubs of the respective friction-clutches u and 1;. By moving the clutches u 17 so that neither of them is in frictional contact with the annular flanges U V no motion is imparted to the wheel W, as may be desired, when holding the crane in a permanent position, without turning it to the right or left during the descent or ascent of the shovel. The bevel-gear W is fast on the shaft W, located in bearings W W on the frame a.

0n the shaft W is.loosely supported the sprocket or chain wheelw, as well as the spiral chain-drum F, between which is secured, upon the shaft WV,a clutch-plate, y, which has perforations y 11 to receive projections F F on the spiral drum F when the latter is moved longitudinally on the shaft W, so as to connect the drum F to the clutch-plate y. The drum F may be moved on the shaft W by means of any of the ordinary clutch-levers or bars, (not, however, shown in the drawings,) to connect it and disconnect it to and from the clutch-plate 3 On the side of the chaiu-wheel w are clutchprojections 20 w, which maybe locked between corresponding clutch-projeetions, y g, on the side of the clutch-plate y, when desired to set the sprocket-wheel w in arotary motion for moving the machine forward or back, as will be described.

From the chain-wheel w leads a chain, w, to another chain-wheel, w, on the rear truckshaft, 6, to which the flanged wheels or rollers 7 7 are secured. Sis the forward truckshaft, with its flanged wheels or rollers 9 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. l0 10 are chain-wheels secured to the rear truck-shaft, 6; and 11 11 are similar chain-wheels on the forward truckshaft, 8, which chain-wheels are respectively IIO connected by the endless chains 12 12, as shown, by which arrangement a simultaneous rotary motion in either direction is imparted from the sprocket or chain wheelw to both truck-shafts and their wheels or rollers, so as to insure a positive motion of the machine on its rails 13 13, even if the latter should be imperfectly laid on the ground,as represented in thelower part of Fig. 1. When the truck-wheels are not connected by chains and chain-wheels, as shown, it is impossible to move the machine on its rails when the motive-truck is stuck in I a hollow at the junction of two rail parts, as

shown in Fig. 1, except by operating the forward truck-wheels bymeans of levers or handspikes, which is a very hard and tedious operation, and such difliculty is entirely obviated by the arrangement as hereinabove set forth and described.

the combination of the truck-axles 6 8 and trucks 7 7 9 9 with chain-wheels 10 10 11 11 and the endless connecting-chains 12 12, the chain-pulley w on shaft 6, and its endless chain to, actuated by drum-shaft W and its chain-pulleyw, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an excavating or dredging machine, the hoisting mechanism, as described, consisting of shaft h, loose gear-wheel h, annular flange h,friction-shoes k k, guide L ll, levers i i, sleeve 5, rods '6 'i, hub m, drumD, spindle m, and connecting mechanism to the treadle p, as set forth. a

4. In an excavating or dredging machine the herein-described swinging and propelling mechanism, consisting of shaft W, loose chaindrum .F, clutch-plate y y y, loose sprocketwheel to w" w", bevel-gear W, shaft t, loose bevel-gears U V U V, adjustable cones we, and connecting mechanism for its operation, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE SOUTHER. Witnesses:

ALBAN ANDREN, HENRY OHADBOURN. 

